This application claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 11/190,613, filed Jul. 26, 2005, to issue as U.S. Pat. No. 7,713,125, titled System and Method for Conducting a Jackpot Race Event, which is incorporated by reference.
This application relates to means to account for the value of a sum (i.e., pool) of money or money equivalent wagered by or collected from one or more participants or gaming machines for the purpose of subsequent distribution of an amount of the pool as an award or prize to a participant that has reached or accomplished a defined goal in a contest; or means for determining or causing the distribution of the amount from the pool, including retaining an amount of the pool unless or until a defined goal is attained in a game, the retained amount being successively added to the award amount for that goal in a subsequent game or games until the goal is attained.
Wagering on sporting events, such as horse races, for example, is a large and growing industry in many parts of the world. Various types of betting products or systems are available for various types of sporting events For example, typical horse racing bets allow bettors to bet on the finishing position of a single horse or several horses in a particular race or series of races. For instance, a bettor can bet on a particular horse to finish first (win), finish in the top two (place), or finish in the top three (show). A bettor may also make various combination bets with multiple horses, such as an exacta bet (covering the top two finishing horses in order) or a trifecta bet (covering the top three finishing horses in order). In addition, a bettor may bet on a series of races, such as the daily double (winners of two consecutive races), the pick-three (winners of three consecutive races), and the pick-six (winners of six consecutive races), for example.
In a pari-mutuel betting system, all bets regarding a particular event are aggregated, a commission (or “take-out”) is taken by the track, and the remainder is distributed among the winning bettors. For example, pari-mutuel betting systems are commonly used in North America (and other various places throughout the world) for betting on horse races.